Figure Skater 'Heartbroken' After Thief Smashes Car Window, Steals Skates, Prized Costumes
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Add a visiting Olympic figure skater to the list of victims who parked their cars in San Francisco and lost precious items to thieves.
Pairs skater Marissa Castelli competed last week in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose. On Monday, she parked her rented SUV outside a restaurant in Japantown and returned to find the windows smashed. Gone were several pieces of luggage, containing 2 custom-made figure skating dresses worth $1000 apiece.
The car was parked in the 1600 block of Webster.
After the incident, Castelli tweeted, "... A thief smashed the window to our rental car took a couple of bats, one of those bags contained my skates and my costumes. I am heartbroken."
After a fun day hanging in San Francisco, we stopped for a quick bite in Japantown before heading to the airport. A thief smashed the window to our rental car took a couple bags, one of those bags contained my skates and my costumes. I am heartbroken.????
— Marissa Castelli (@MarissaCastelli) January 9, 2018
Castelli filed a police report and asks that anyone with information about the break-in contact her on Twitter.
She told KPIX she had fun skating in the Olympic trials even the she didn't make the team. She and her partner, Mervin Tran earned sixth place. The theft was the real disappointment.
"The one thing that skaters can't live without is our costumes and our skates. And anytime I travel with it I bring it on the plane," she said. "I always have my costumes, I always have my skates just in case I lose my luggage, I have that and I know we're done with the competition, but still, it's such like a huge shock not to have my skates or my costumes."
The burglar also made off with Caselli's iPad, jewelry and the keys to her apartment.
The break-in was just hours after SFPD announced a city-wide crackdown on thefts.
Auto burglaries in the city have increased 24% in the last year.